Vending apparatus



Jan. 27, 1942. H. s. COHN VENDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 8, 1957 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 27, 1942.- H. s. COHN VENDING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 8, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 J /a'raid 5. 60km Jan; 27, 1942. H. s. COHN 2,271,476

VENDING APP ARATU-S Filed.Dec. 8, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 j/aroiaf .f. C0%/ 1 Gummy Patented Jan. 27, 1942 UNITED STATES- PAT-ET OFFICE VENDING. APPARATUS.

Harold S. Colin, Jacksonville, Fla.

Application December 8, 1937, Serial. No. 118,797

10 Claims.

The present invention relates to vending apparatus designed to dispense articles, ordinarily singly, from a stack. While not limited to such use, it is an object of the invention, to provide a device which may be of such restricted dimensions and of such external form as'to be mountable on the back of a theater seat or the like without objectionably obstructing the usual space in front of a seat therebehind. Other objects are to provide a device of simple and inexpensive construction which will safeguard the articles to be vended, the mechanism of the device itself, and the customer as-well.

In order that the principles underlying the invention may be thoroughly understood, I shall describe it with reference to a practical embodiment-thereof which I have shown by wayof ex- Figure 3 is a section substantially on line 3-3 of Figure 2'. t

Figure 4" is a section substantially on line l -4 of Figure 2 and on the same scale as Figure 3-.

Figure 5 is a partial view similar to that of Figure 4 but showing in operative position a' locking member which serves to lock the apparatus against-operation when it is empty.

Figure 6 is a section substantially on line 3-45 1 of Figure 3, but on the'scale of Figure 2.

Figure '7 is a section substantially on the line 1-! of- Figure 4 and on the: same scale as Figure 6, and

Figure 8 is an exploded view in perspective of a magazine and counterweight embodied in the apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus includes a housing; generally designated at H], which comprises a base plate H, hereshown as securedtothe back of a. seat 12-, and a cover I 3.

As shown in Figure 1' the cover, in face View; has a substantiallyrectangular lower half and a tapered upper half, the base plate having substantially the same configuration. The cover includes the face portion: M, top and bottom walls l5 and I6, and side walls I! and It, the saidwalls' forming a continuous flange for the face portion I4 and being of similar depth, except that the top and bottomv walls have arcuate edges" substan-"' The cover is thus supported and registered with the base plate, since the sides of lip 2|] lie between abutment portions at the ends of lip I 9.

A latch 2| is fixed to the lower portion of the base plateand projects outwardly of the latter. The latch has a recess 22 engageable by a bolt 23 projectible from a lock 24 mounted on the inside of the lower cover wall l6 and controllable by means of a key which may be introduced through a suitable opening in the wall.

The top wall l5 isprovided with a slot. 25 which occupies a depressed position by reason of the in-setting of the slot margins. The slot is disposed substantially centrally of the top wall l5 and extends longitudinally of the latter.

The face portion I4 of the cover [3 is provided with an obliquely disposed delivery opening or window 26 whose top and bottom edges may be P recessed at 21 and 28 to enable an article behind the opening to be conveniently grasped for removal. The face portion l4 is-also provided with an obliquely disposed coin slot 29 whichis dimensioned to pass a coin of suitable denominaas 3|], is constituted by a single sheet of metal wrapped to the shape of a parallelepiped; the face portion 3| having an extension or'tab 32 lapping in part theside wall 33, its extremity being outwardly bent to provide a rib 34 of uniform magazine are provided with substantialy trian-- gular upward extensions and have registering openings 31 and 38 at their extremities- Atits, 3 lower portion wall 3| may be provided with lat- The extension 32 and wall 33 eral extensions or wings 39 and 40. It projects below the remaining walls and may have an arcuate lower edge as shown in Figure 8.

Pivoted on wall 33 at 4! is the extremity of a short arm of an L-shaped latch member 42 whose other arm 43 extends along the rear surface of flange 34 and has an enlarged portion 44 projecting below the latter, the enlargement being on that side of member 43 adjacent the front Wall 3| and including a cam surface 45. Due to the manner of mounting the latch, its portion 43 normally hangs toward rib 34 when the magazine is upright. The tendency of the latch to swing in a counter-clockwise direction is enhanced ordinarily by the fact that when mounted, as shown in Figure 2, the magazine is inclined to the vertical.

An elongated counterweight 46 is channeled to provide ribs 41 and 48, the latter having the same depth as the rib 34, and the former being somewhat deeper and being undercut to provide a longitudinally extending recess 49. Rib 48 is interrupted at 58 to provide a recess which defines three sides of a coin slot. The counterweight is assembled with the magazine by passing screws through holes 5| which register with the holes 35. When thus assembled the rib 48 abuts the forward edge of extension 32 and rib 34 abuts the bottom of the counterweight channel. The outer margin of rib 41 overlies the outer margin of wall 36 and recess 49 is in register with latch portion 43 so that the latter may swing freely outwardly a certain distance. The lower portion of the counterweight channel constitutes a downwardly open coin chute in communication with slot 50, the other side of the latter being provided by a portion of the extension 32. The enlarged latch portion 44 constitutes a wall portion of the coin chute.

The relation of parts is such that a coin of suitable denomination, in the present case a five cent piece, passed through slot 56, will drop downwardly in the coin chute and strike cam surface 45 so as to swing latch 42 about pivot 41 in a clockwise direction.

Referring particularly to Figures 2 and 3, a yoke 52 has leg portions secured to the extremities of walls 3| and 36 and provided with openings registering with openings 31 and 38, the axis of these openings being perpendicular to the parallelfront and rear magazine walls.

Secured to the top portion of back plate II on its vertical axis and perpendicular to the latter, is a stud 53 which passes through the openings 31 and 38 and the yoke openings to pivotally support the magazine which is retained on the stud by means such as a washer 54 and cotter pin 55. Fixed'to the cross portion of the yoke is a stud 56 which projects upwardly through the slot 25 and into the pocket thereabove, but not substantially above the cover top wall 15. Stud 56 is of non-round section and is received in a mating opening in an elongated plate 5'! slidable thereon and held slidingly against the in-set wall portions around slot 25 by a compression spring 58 which surroundsstud 56. In the operation of the device stud 56 moves from one end to the other of slot 25, but plate 5'! is of suflicient length to maintain the slot constantly closed throughout.

With the magazine mounted as described, it normally occupies the position shown in Figure 3 in view of the effect of the counterweight. Movement of the magazine in acounter-clockwise direction beyond the position shown in Figure 3, may be prevented by any suitable means as for example a stop 59 which is engaged by the lower portion of wall 68 of the magazine.

When the magazine is in the position shown in Figure 3, it is directly above a shelf 6| which is supported, through an apron 62, by a flange 63 riveted to plate II. The shelf has an end wall 64 of which the stop 59 is a continuation. The shelf is open toward the face l4 of the cover and terminates in adjacency to the latter. To the left the shelf is continued into a second relatively elevated shelf or continuation 65 which is of arcuate form, as shown, substantially on the axis of stud 53, the two shelves being separated by an upward step or wall 66 and the latter and wall 64 being spaced apart a distance a little greater than the length of a package of gum. The shelf 6| is of a width to accommodate such a package and is substantially flush with the lower straight edge of window 26 when the cover is in place.

The left hand end of shelf 65 is continued downwardly as a strip 61 to an upwardly open coin receptacle 68 which has an outer wall 69 and is suitably flanged, as at 10 and II, for attachment to plate H, a portion of which constitutes one wall of the receptacle. Flange H has an outwardly turned end portion 12 which carries an upwardly extending stud 13. Wall 66 is extended over to plate II and provided with a bent extremity l4 riveted to the latter. Wall 66 and its extension are provided with a horizontal slot 15 and adjacent thereto apron 62 has a cut-out 16. The shelves, supporting brackets, coin receptacle, etc., may be bent from a single piece of thin metal.

The inner edge of shelf 65 is spaced from plate H a substantial distance and from the back wall 36 of magazine 30 a distance somewhat greater than the maximum thickness of enlargement 44 of the latch member. The rear edge of shelf 65 is rectilinear in plan except for a square notch 11 and a saw tooth notch 18, these being most clearly shown in Figure 7. Notch TI is slightly wider than the thickness of the enlargement 44 and the latter hangs somewhat below the shelf as shown, for example, in Figure 2.

Pivoted on stud 13, and retained by means such as a cotter pin 19, is a lever, here shown as being made of spring wire with a plurality of turns around the stud to serve as a bearing. One end of the lever projects through slot 15 and behind cut-out 16 in the normal position of the lever and is yieldingly held in this position by a spring 8|. The other end of the lever is provided with a substantially hairpin bend at 82 and its extremity 83 is bent down into contact with the plate II and acts, in conjunction with spring 8|, to hold the lever portion 80 in the normal position above described. That portion of the lever lying between the extremity 83 and the bend 82 occupies a normal position most clearly shown in Figure 6 wherein it is engageable by the magazine 30 as the latter is swung in a clockwise direction about stud 53, the swing in this direction being limited, by any suitable means, to the angular relation shown in Figure 4. In striking the described portion of the lever the same is cammed toward plate H thereby swinging lever portion 80 outwardly along slot 15, through cut-out l6, and horizontally over the left hand end of shelf 6| to engage the adjacent portion of an article on the shelf whereby the latter is given an ejecting movement.

With the magazine loaded and in the right hand limit position, as shown in Figure 3, its downwardly open lower end. overlies shelf 61 and the lowermost. arti'cleof the stack rests on the shelf andsupports the remaining articles in' the magazine. Enlargement 44 of latch 42 is engaged in notch 11 so that the magazine is locked in the angular positioniof Figure 3.. Coin slot 29 of the cover is-in exact register with the coin slot on the magazine. andthe lower. portion of magazine wall.

31- constitutes a shield which completelycloses the window 26 of the cover;

A coin inserted: through the. registering slots drops down the coin: chute, strikes cam surface- 45. of latch 42, thereby movingthe enlargement 44 out of notch 1.1, and thencomes to rest onv the right hand portion of shelf 65, still holding the latch disengaged. If stud 56 is now grasped and moved to the right, the magazine may be swung to the-left hand position'shown in Figure 4. The lowermost'package is held-by abutment wall or step 66 on shelf 6|, whereas the remaining packages are retained in the magazine by shelf 65. The coin slides over shelf 65, holding the latch from engagementwith notch 18, and eventually falls. off the left hand edge of shelf 65 into the coin receptacle 68. 80' has been urged. toward ejecting position, 'as above described, bearing the article on shelf 6|, against the lower margin of magazine wall 31', and when the latter clears the-window 26 the arm 80 acts to push the package to the partially ejected position indicatedzin Figure '7 wherein it may be-conveniently grasped through the recesses 21 and 28. It will'be evident that since the left hand end of the package lies in front of the right hand lower edge of theextension 40 of magazine wall 3|, the magazine cannot swing to the right until the package has been removed. Upon removal of the package the magazine returns to its right hand limitposition under the influence of the counterweight and the lowermost package in' themagazine isdeposited on shelf iii in readiness for the next vending operation.

Resting onthe top of the stack in the magazine is a stack follower 84 formed of a strip of metal freely slidable in the magazine and supported on the stack byterminal off-set portions 85 and 86 which are extended into parallel upright portions 8-! and- 88. When the magazine is swung to the left from the last remaining package the follower 84 will slide over shelf 65" until the off-set 85 drops over the left hand edge of the shelf so that extension 81 serves to block the return of the magazine. When the magazine is tobe charged the cover is removed and off-set 85- pushed upwardly so that the magazine in its return' will carry the follower onto shelf 6|. Latch 42 is then released and the magazine swung tothe left so that the follower can be taken from shelf GI and again placed in-the reloaded magazine.

Since the follower 84- serves'to hold the empty magazine against return, it is evident that the coin'slot of the magazine is held out of register with the coin slot 29 of the cover so that no coin can be inserted.

Rib 34 serves to prevent tampering with the latch 42 through the coin slots when the latter are in register, but even if it is succeeded, by means of" a thin instrument, in moving the latch out of notch 11, the instrument must then be removed and the latch will engage in slot 18 to prevent further movement of the magazine to the left.

The coin chute is so proportioned that a smaller coin, such as a one cent piece, will not suffice to In the meantime, lever arm move the latch from notch 11. Of course, usual provisions for preventing operation by iron slugs or'the likemay be incorporated;

It willbe seen that the described machine is of very simple construction and involves a minimum of moving parts. Springs, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, are for the most part displaced by gravity action. The device is very effective in operation, fully safe-guarding the articles to be vendedas well as its own operating parts, preventing fraudulent operation by a coin or slug smaller than that intended, and preventing the insertion of a coin when the articles have all been sold.

The thickness of the housing need be but little greater than that of the magazine and when kept at a minimum the. apparatus is particularly adapted for disposition in a restricted space. The absence of projecting parts isv another advantageous feature.

Obviously, many changes in the form. and manner of association of the parts are. possible without departure from the invention and consequently I donot limit myself to vthesezmatt-ersexcept as inthe following claims.

I claim:

1. Vending apparatuscomprising a housing, a magazine pivoted in the housing on a. horizontal. axis and having a downwardly directed: opening, said magazine being swingable between: limit positions, a fixed shelf beneath said opening when said magazine is in one of said positions and adapted to support a stack of'articlesof which all except the lowermost are in the magazine; an

abutment at one end of'said' shelf restraining said lowermost? article against movement with said magazine whenthe latter. is swung to. its other limit position, and a second fixed shelf supporting. the remainder ofithe'articles in the magazinewhenth'e latter is swung to said other limit'position, return. of said magazine subsequent tothe.-

said magazine. is in one of said positions andadap-ted .t.o;support a stack of articles of which all'except the lowermost are in the magazine, an abutment at one end of said shelf restraining said lowermost article against movement with said magazine when the "latter is swung to its other limit position,.a second fixedshelf supporting the remainder of: the articles in the magazine whenth latter is SWllIlgttQ said other limit position, returnof saidmagazine subsequent to the removal ofsaid lowermost article from the first shelf depositing the succeeding article on the latter, a downwardly open coin chute carriedby the magazine and blocked by said second shelf to prevent escape of-a coin therefrom when the magazine is being moved from said first limit position toward said otherlimit position but unblocked when the last-named position is reached so as to release the coin, a magazine latch held released by the coin while-the coin is retainedin said chute, and a receiver arranged to receive the released coin.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein a stack following member is provided which is adapted to engage an end of said second shelf when the stack is exhausted to prevent return of said magazine.

magazine in said housing movable in a dispensing operation between limit positions said housing and magazine having substantially parallel wall portions provided with coin slots which register only when the magazine is in one of its limit positions, the housing wall portion covering the magazine slot when the magazine is in other than said one of its limit positions.

'5. Vending apparatus comprising a housing, an open-ended magazine in said housing movable laterally between limit positions, a fixed abutment in the housing extending lengthwise of and adjacent to the open end of said magazine when the latter is in one of said positions and adapted to support against outward movement relative to the magazine a group of articles of which all but the outermost are in the magazine, and means for retaining said outermost article against said abutment as the magazine and therewith the remainder of said articles are moved to the other limit position of the magazine, said housing h'aving a dispensing opening through which said outermost article is directly accessible for removal when said magazine is swung to said other limit position, return of said magazine subsequent to the removal of said outermost article from said abutment bringing the succeeding article into position to be received against said abutment, said magazine including a portion covering said dispensing opening when the magazine is in said one of said positions and uncovering said opening when the magazine is moved to said other limit position.

6. Vending apparatus comprising a housing, an open-ended magazine in said housing movable laterally between limit positions, a fixed abutment in the housing extending lengthwise of and adjacent to the open end of said magazine when the latter is in one of said positions and adapted to support against outward movement relative to the magazine a group of articles of which all but the outermost are in the magazine, an angular abutment at one end of the first abutment restraining said outermost article against movement with said magazine when the latter is swung to its other limit position, and a further abutment supporting the remainder of the articles in the magazine as the latter is swung to said other limit position, return of said magazine subsequent to the removal of said outermost article from the first abutment bringing the succeeding articles into position to be received against said first abutment.

'7. Vending apparatus comprising a housing, a magazine in said housing movable in a dispensing operation from a normal position at one side of the housing toward the opposite side of the housing, a coin chute carried by said housing through which a coin may gravitate, a movable latch defining a side portion of said chute, a fixed stop portion normally engaged by said latch, said latch having a cam portion engageable by a coin of proper size in the chute to move the latch from normal magazine-locking position whereby to render the latch inoperative, a slot in said housing through which a coin may be introduced to the chute when the magazine is in normal position, and means for maintaining the 4. Vending apparatus comprising a housing, a

coin in engagement with said cam portion while the magazine is moved toward said opposite side of the housing and then releasing the coin as the limit of such movement of the magazine is 1 reached.

8. Vending apparatus comprising a housing and dispensing means in said housing, said dis; pensing means including a stack-receiving magazine in said housing movable between limit positions, said housing being provided with a coin slot, a coin chute carried by the magazine for the reception of a coin inserted through said slot, a coin controlled latch member carried by said magazine and constituting a wall portion of said chute, and a fixed stop portion normally engaged by said latch member, said latch member being engageable by a coin of proper size introduced into the chute to be moved by the coin to unlatching position to permit dispensing movement of said magazine.

9. Vending apparatus comprising a housing, an open-ended magazine in said housing movable laterally between limit positions, a fixed abutment in the housing extending lengthwise of and adjacent to the open end of said magazine when the latter is in one of said positions and adapted to support against outward movement relative to the magazine a group of articles of which all but the outermost are in the magazine, means for retaining said outermost article against said abutment as the magazine and therewith the remainder of said articles are moved to the other limit position of the magazine, said housing having a dispensing opening through which said outermost article is directly accessible for removal when said magazine is swung to said other limit position, return of said magazine subsequent to the removal of said outermost article from said abutment bringing the succeeding article into position to be received against said abutment, and means actuated as a result of movement of said magazine toward said other limit position to impart ejecting movement to said outermost article.

10. Vending apparatus comprising a housing, an open-ended magazine in said housing movable laterally between limit positions, a fixed abutment in the housing extending lengthwise of and adjacent to the open end of said magazine when the latter is'in one of said positions and adapted to support against outward movement relative to the magazine a group of articles of which all but the outermost are in the magazine, means for retaining said outermost article against said abutment as the magazine and therewith the remainder of said articles are moved to the other limit position of the magazine, said housing having a dispensing opening through which said outermost article is directly accessible for removal when said magazine is swung to said other limit position, return of said magazine subsequent to the removal of said outermost article from said abutment bringing the succeeding arti ole into position to be received against said abutment, said magazine having a portion engageable with a partially ejected article to prevent return of the magazine until such article has been removed from the abutment.

HAROLD S. CO-HN. 

